Matt Richtel has written a piece for The New York Times on how the online cam girl business is changing the porn industry.
According to data from Compete.com, some of the top sites now see around 30m visitors a month.
And it allows women to forge the middleman, by producing their own video chats using new technology and making a much larger cut of profits – splitting the cash with the hosting site.
It has similarities to the technology-led change in prostitution, where apps like Peppr mean some women can choose to go independent, without having to reply on intermediaries.
Read an excellent Economist piece on this.
And Richtel quotes industry sources who say the cam girl business is likely worth 20% of the $5bn porn industry.
“At any given time, hundreds of models are online, some being watched by 1,000 or more people, others giving private shows. The money generated by cam sites is hundreds of millions of dollars at least, and very likely a billion or more, according to industry analysts and executives.
“The money generally comes not from subscriptions or pay-per-view, but rather from credits or “tips,” electronic tokens viewers give that allow them to interact with the models – instructing them through typed messages to use a certain sex toy or use it in a specific way. The Web sites provide the platform and then collect and distribute the tips to the models.”
Read the piece here.